SLUG sewer line breaks
DATE USED -- 1/16/07
CATEGORY -- nws
PAPER -- sun
REPORTER -- jdg
ART -- y
PAGE -- __
SUGGESTED HEAD
Sewer line break causes partial road closure
f=Zapf Dingbats s=20 f=Abadi MT Cn Lt s=24 l=26Traffic limited to one lane on Avenue B most of Monday
causes traffic restriction JACKIE CQD HEADLINE
|f=Abadi MT Cn Lt s=8 l=11PHOTO BY TERRY KETRON/f=Abadi MT Cn Ex BdTHE SUN
f=Abadi MT Cn Ex Bd s=10 l=11CITY OF YUMAf=Abadi MT Cn Public Works Department employees worked Monday morning to clear a broken sewer line on Avenue B north of 24th Street. City officials had the repair completed and the road fully opened by late Monday. Monday traffic was limited to one lane southbound on Avenue B due to the break.
f=Abadi MT Cn Ex Bd s=9| A sewer line broke Monday morning, spilling some sewage onto the road on Avenue B just north of 24th Street and closing one lane of traffic.
City of Yuma strategic communications manager Greg Hyland said the break forced the closure of one lane of southbound Avenue B while city employees cleaned up any sewage and worked on patching the pipe. Hyland said the road reopened to traffic at 6:45 p.m. Monday.
City employees used large Public Works Department trucks that can suck up water or debris, known as camels, to clean up the sewage that had poured out. Once that was done, they planned to begin work on patching the line.
Sewage flows were redirected, so that no homes lost service, Hyland said.
Sewage acts as a corrosive and can wear out old lines. He said this particular line, made of ductile iron, was scheduled to be fully replaced, but when the city put the project out to bid, they did not receive any acceptable bids.
The line is part of the system in that area that transports sewage to the Figueroa Water Pollution Control Facility, 289 N. Figueroa Ave. While water lines tend to break now and then, sewer lines seldom do. "It's a pretty rare occurrence," Hyland said.
In the city's Capital Improvement Program, $290,000 was budgeted to replace the 12-inch sewer main from the Avenue B and 24th Street lift station to the 20th Street and Avenue B trunk sewer line. This project was programmed for 2006-07 because "the existing line has deteriorated to a point where replacement is required," according to the CIP.
Jeffrey Gautreaux can be reached at jgautreaux@yumasun.com or 539-6858.
